For more than twenty years I've been wandering the woods and waterways of Saratoga County, New York, looking closely, listening carefully. We are blessed in this county with an amazing amount of wilderness right at hand. With this blog I will share a year of adventuring here, seeking out what wonders await in my own Madagascar close to home.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

A Few Pretty Things at Orra Phelps Nature Preserve

I took a quick walk out to Orra Phelps Nature Preserve in Wilton yesterday, hoping to find the Fringed Gentians (Gentianopsis crinita) in bloom. And I wasn't disappointed!

There were quite a few plants in the sandy open area, many still in bud but a few being coaxed by a warming sun to unfurl their gorgeous royal-blue petals. I have not found this flower anywhere else in Saratoga County, so I thank the spirit of the late Orra Phelps for providing such a happy home for them here. And I also thank the staff and volunteers of Saratoga PLAN for working to keep this sandy area clear of the encroaching pines and poplars that had threatened to overshadow these rare plants.

Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana) actually prefers the shade of the woods, and I found quite a few of them along the wooded stream that runs through this lovely preserve. Their little greenish, spidery flowers hide beneath the top tier of leaves in early summer, but by now the ruby-red berry stalks have migrated upwards to hold these shiny black fruits above the leaves, now splashed with a rosy blush.

A few days of rain had called forth a myriad of tiny mushrooms, which were dotting the forest floor with their miniature parasols. Adorable!

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"I wish to live ever as to derive my satisfactions and inspirations from the commonest events. . . so that my daily walk, the conversation of my neighbors may inspire me, and I may dream of no heaven but that which lies about me." -- Henry Thoreau: Mar. 11, 1856

Narrow-Leaved Gentian

Bittersweet Nightshade berries

Come go through the woods and along the river with me:

A selection of photos, using either a Canon PowerShot G7 or, more recently, a Canon PowerShot S95. All photos and text of this blog are copyrighted by Jacqueline Donnelly. Those embedded in the text can be enlarged with a click of the mouse. The ones in this sidebar cannot.